Plato Investment Management Ltd Invests $2.73 Million in CME Group Inc. $CME

Plato Investment Management Ltd acquired a new stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 12,435 shares of the financial services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $2,730,000.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Asset Dedication LLC boosted its position in CME Group by 64.9% during the fourth quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 94 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of CME Group by 2,075.0% in the 1st quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC now owns 87 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares during the period. Elkhorn Partners Limited Partnership acquired a new position in shares of CME Group in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of CME Group during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Legacy Wealth Managment LLC ID boosted its position in shares of CME Group by 191.9% during the 4th quarter. Legacy Wealth Managment LLC ID now owns 108 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

CME Group Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CME opened at $269.80 on Monday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $250.20 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $280.19. The firm has a market cap of $97.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.88, a PEG ratio of 3.14 and a beta of 0.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a current ratio of 1.02. CME Group Inc. has a 52-week low of $218.31 and a 52-week high of $329.16.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 22nd. The financial services provider reported $2.99 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.91 by $0.08. CME Group had a return on equity of 15.60% and a net margin of 63.30%.The firm had revenue of $1.71 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.68 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.96 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that CME Group Inc. will post 12.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 25th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 9th will be paid a dividend of $1.30 per share. This represents a $5.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.9%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 9th. CME Group’s payout ratio is 44.11%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Wall Street Zen downgraded CME Group from a “sell” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Saturday, August 1st. Rothschild & Co Redburn upgraded CME Group from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $316.00 to $323.00 in a report on Thursday, June 11th. Erste Group Bank downgraded shares of CME Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, June 5th. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on shares of CME Group from $323.00 to $273.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of CME Group from $310.00 to $260.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, CME Group has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $291.81.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other CME Group news, Director William R. Shepard acquired 325 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 25th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $230.57 per share, with a total value of $74,935.25. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 260,442 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $60,050,111.94. This represents a 0.12% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.30% of the company’s stock.

CME Group Profile

CME Group Inc is a global markets company that operates some of the world’s largest and most liquid derivatives exchanges, including the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME), the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT), the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) and COMEX. The firm offers futures and options contracts across a broad range of asset classes — including interest rates, equity indexes, foreign exchange, energy, agricultural commodities and metals — and serves a diverse client base of institutional investors, commercial hedgers, brokers and retail participants.

The company’s core services include electronic trading on the CME Globex platform, central clearing through CME Clearing, and distribution of market data, indexes and analytics.